There are a lot of interesting articles out there about Hurricane Katrina and the response to it. None but the most partisan seem to suggest that any party with any responsibility was blameless. Some come down to the technicalities of arguing things like how culpable Governor Kathleen Blanco was because she told the Feds, "I need everything you've got" but wasn't more specific. My feeling is that we're in trouble if any emergency system relies on any mayor, governor or even president being 100% on the job and letter-perfect in time of catastrophe. We should have a system of checks and double-checks that works even if these people are unavailable or swamped; where if they drop the ball, there's someone else to pick it up.
That said, I'm going to link to a batch of articles on the aftermath. I don't suggest that any one has total command of all the details but as a whole, you sure get a sense that the response could have been (Correct that:) should have been more effective.
- Here's the main New York Times overview of the response. I think the Times too often errs on the side of listening to "unnamed White House sources" but this piece seems relatively free of that.
- The Washington Post gives us "The Steady Buildup to a City's Chaos" while the Los Angeles Times has a piece called "Put to Katrina's Test."
- An article in Time magazine entitled, "Places Where the System Broke Down" and one in Newsweek called "How Bush Blew It."
- The Knight Ridder newspapers are running this article headlined, "Failure At Every Turn."
- And for another perspective, here's a piece by Christopher Ruddy called "Don't Blame Bush for Katrina."
- Lastly, Andrew Sullivan is a conservative commentator who hasn't sounded much like one lately. His slow conversion from being a champion of George W. Bush parallels that of a few friends of mine.